Brad Stevens and the “scrappy” Boston Celtics just got swept by the heavily favored Cleveland Cavaliers in their 1st Round Eastern Conference Playoff matchup and while Boston is a long way from title contention, you have to tip your cap to the C’s for a respectable year on the court.

Meanwhile, Brett Brown and the 76ers have been booking tee times, developing their skill sets and rehabbing injuries for nearly two weeks now.

Both franchises are admittedly in rebuild mode. The question is, ‘Which of these long time Eastern Conference rivals is in a better position to once again become a relevant NBA team (a team that finishes above .500 in regular season and is at least a No. 6 seed in playoffs) over the next three years?’

After the jump, I’ll take a look at the assets (future and present) both franchises own and give you my opinion.

Michael Carter-Williams and his Milwaukee Bucks are down 2-0 in their 1st round playoff series against the Chicago Bulls and even though Game 3 is in Milwaukee, the odds of the Bucks coming back to win this series are long. Still, as Carter Williams sat in front of his locker in the bowels of the Wells Fargo Center back on April 13th and spoke to the media, first few inquiries revolved around the progress of his own game, his teammates’, and the organization’s solid season.

Such questions had become a familiar refrain for the former 76er. However, after the Milwaukee Bucks bested the Sixers ten days ago in the season’s second-to-last regular season game, the questions Carter-Williams faced quickly took on a very different tone.

“It’s really exciting,” he replied when asked about his upcoming inaugural playoff appearance.

“It’s my first playoffs and a lot of these guys first playoffs,” he furthered, nodding his head toward his teammates.

Everyone sitting close to the pool’s edge can breathe a sigh of relief. It’s a good bet that there won’t be any Canaanballs for the 76ers in 2015-16.

Last week, Head Coach Brett Brown revealed that trade deadline acquisition Isiah Canaan would miss the remainder of the season with a foot sprain (He missed 6 games total because of the injury). The 23-year-old guard only has a partially guaranteed contract with the team for next season, so his 18 points (7-12 on FGAs) and 6 assists outing against the Wizards on April 1st may have been the last time Canaan wears the Sixers unfiorm.

If you recall, Canaan, who was acquired on trade deadline day in the deal that sent K.J. McDaniels to Houston, appeared in 22 games for the Sixers this season, cracking the starting rotation in 12 of them. He averaged 12.6 points and 3.1 assists per game over that span, while shooting 37% from the field and playing 26 minutes per game.

Robert Covington, SF33 MIN | 6-13 FG | 12-13 FT | 7 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 4 BLK | 10 TO | 25 PTS | +2 +/-Yes Cov filled it up last night from a scoring standpoint, but 18 of his points came in the 1st half. He also turned the ball over 10 times; shot 16% from deep and played zero defense in the 2nd half.

Jerami Grant, SF28 MIN | 3-9 FG | 1-4 FT | 7 REB | 4 AST | 3 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 8 PTS | -7 +/-An off shooting night for Grant hurt his production. Still, he was agressive on offense and I thought he was one of the few Sixers that actually played hard at the other end last night.

The 76ers will finish the 2014-15 NBA season with a record nearly identical to the one that they posted in 2013-14 – their first year under Head Coach Brett Brown and GM Sam Hinkie. The similarity in total wins and losses does not mean that there was zero progress from the first to second season under this regime. It just means that the progress has yet to be reflected in the wins column.

In actuality, the Sixers are substantially further along in their rebuilding process at the end of the second season with Hinkie at the helm than they were just eleven months ago when current Milwaukee Buck, Michael Carter-Williams was named the league’s Rookie of the Year.

As a reminder, this Philadunkia question and answer series is “loosely based” on ESPN.com’s highly successful, NBA related series of posts titled “5on5″. Our version of this genre of posts will ask 4 Philadunkia scribes to answer 4 topical, hot button questions about our Philadelphia 76ers.

Now you’re probably asking, “Why not simply stick with the “5on5″ format that ESPN.com uses?”

Well as any great hoops coach will tell you — playing 4on4 is the best way to truly learn the game of basketball.

After the jump, Philadunkia scribes C. Smith, Michael Kaskey-Blomain, Jeff McMenamin and Tyler Cook will examine four questions surrounding our 76ers this time with a focus on the 2015 Final Four.

Ish Smith, PG30 MIN | 5-14 FG | 2-2 FT | 8 REB | 7 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 7 TO | 13 PTS | +3 +/-Other than the 7 TOs and a 1:1 assist/TO ratio, I thought Smith played the solid game I asked for in my Fo’ with the Foes preview. If he can play like this every night, the Sixers will at least be tolerable to watch down the home stretch of this season.

This edition of “Fo’ with the Foes” – Philadunkia’s advanced scouting series which with the help of an accomplished journalist from around the NBA beat or blog world, previews key upcoming 76ers games – features tonight’s opponent, the Sacramento Kings who smoked the Washington Wizards on Sunday night; have won two straight games and feature DeMarcus Cousins, who simply killed the 76ers (39 points and 24 rebounds) on Monday of last week.

After the jump, I’ll look a Fo’ key items for tonight’s game. Additionally, we’ll get a little more insight into this Sacto team the Sixers face tonight from our colleague Akis Yerocostas at sactownroyalty.com, as Akis will answer Fo’ questions on his Kings squad from us here at Philadunkia.

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, PF29 MIN | 5-10 FG | 1-2 FT | 2 REB | 3 AST | 4 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 14 PTS | -2 +/-After he posted 7 points in the opening minutes of the 1st Q I thought Luc was headed for a career night. Unfortunately he did not score another point before the half and was 1-4 shooting when the Sixers went ice cold in the 3rd Q.

Nerlens Noel, C37 MIN | 5-12 FG | 0-0 FT | 11 REB | 1 AST | 6 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 10 PTS | -9 +/-Noel is playing out of his mind right now and it is a joy to watch (more on this after the jump). When his footwork improves, he could be a very effective offensive weapon for this team.

Isaiah Canaan, PG28 MIN | 6-15 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 4 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 16 PTS | -3 +/-Canaan’s shooting stats were fine, but I need more than 4 dimes out of my starting point guard. He also has a significant amount of work to put in on his defensive fundamentals.

JaKarr Sampson, SG22 MIN | 1-5 FG | 0-2 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 3 PTS | -10 +/-Another poor outing from Sampson. There was a stretch where I thought this kid was going to breakout and make a name for himself (in Philadunkia nation) and that momentum is now gone. Over his last 5 games Sampson is averaging 4.8 ppg. on 35% shooting and a 28% clip from three.

This ‘winter won’t go away’ edition of “Fo’ with the Foes” – Philadunkia’s advanced scouting series which with the help of an accomplished journalist from around the NBA beat or blog world, previews key upcoming 76ers games – features tonight’s opponent, the Oklahoma City Thunder who are 8-2 in their last 10 game and will have Russell Westbrook in the first-five tonight, but will be without Kevin Durant because of his recent foot procedure.

After the jump, I’ll look a Fo’ key items for tonight’s game. Additionally, we’ll get a little more insight into the OKC team the Sixers face tonight from our colleague Joey Conger at welcometoloudcity.com as Joey will answer Fo’ questions on the Thunder from us here at Philadunkia.